Merz calls for European stock exchange, education minister sounds alarm over academic standards, cost of a driving licence in Germany set to fall and more news on Friday, October 17th.
Friday’s top story: Merz calls for joint European stock exchange
Europe needs a common stock exchange so that its firms can compete globally, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, warning that the continent’s future prosperity was at stake.
“We need a kind of European Stock Exchange so that successful companies … do not have to list in New York,” Merz said in a speech to parliament in Berlin.
In recent years European companies have often chosen to list in New York rather than at home, attracted by the United States’ far bigger and deeper capital markets.
This includes German firms such as BioNTech and sandal maker Birkenstock.
Top EU politicians and the European Central Bank have long pushed the idea of a “capital markets union” to harmonise regulation across the bloc and make it easier to invest across borders.
“Our companies need a capital market that is large and deep enough to finance themselves better and, above all, faster,” Merz said.
READ ALSO: The legal steps for starting a business in Germany
“The coming weeks, months and few years will decide if Europe remains an independent economic power in the world economy or if we become the plaything of big economic centres in America or Asia.”
Education minister sounds alarm over maths and science
Germany’s Education Minister Karin Prien has raised the alarm over deteriorating maths and science skills among ninth graders, calling the results of a new national study a serious warning for society.
Presenting the findings of the latest IQB Education Trend, Prien said one in three students now fails to meet the minimum standard in maths required for a secondary school diploma – a ten‑point increase since 2018.
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Similar shortcomings were recorded in chemistry, physics, and biology.
Prien warned that schools alone could no longer manage the crisis, urging a nationwide effort across all sectors – from kindergartens and families to universities and teacher training institutes.
READ ALSO: What do children actually learn at school in Germany?
She insisted that genuine structural progress, not more “education summits,” was needed.
The minister pointed to existing initiatives such as the Startchancen programme and expanded all‑day schooling rights, though she admitted their effects were not yet visible.
Experts blame the decline on staff shortages, social disparities, and declining student engagement.
Prien said the results must serve as a wake‑up call for coordinated reforms to safeguard Germany’s educational future.
Merz in hot water for comments on ‘problem in the cityscape’
Taken out of context it sounds like a benign enough comment: “But of course we still have this problem in the cityscape and that’s why the Federal Minister of the Interior is now also in the process of making repatriations…”
German Chancellor and leader of the conservative Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party said this in a press conference when pushed on his party’s strategy against the AfD.
But the statement sounded like a racist gaffe to many others, and immediately members of the opposition Green and Left parties decried the remarks online.
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“To call people of other skin colours a ‘problem in the cityscape’ is simply racism. The fact that such a statement simply slips out of his mouth is profound,” wrote EU parliamentarian Erik Marquardt of the Greens on X.
The Left Party chairman Jan van Aken called the comments a “racist outburst” and told news portal t-online, “Merz represents an image of Germany like in the 50s. He obviously doesn’t know what kind of country we live in.”
A family exits the metro station onto Karl Marx Strasse in the district of Neukolln, Berlin on August 28, 2025. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)
Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius rejected the accusation, saying that Merz has always made it clear “that in his eyes migration policy must not be about exclusion, but about uniformly regulated immigration…”
According to reporting by Welt, the Chancellor’s comments were left out of the minutes of the Federal Press Office.
Kornelius suggested that since Merz was acting as party chairman his comments had to be left out due to a nuetrality requirement.
READ ALSO: How German leaders are blaming foreigners for country’s woes
Transport minister pushes forward with plan to cut cost of a driver’s licence
The process behind getting a driving licence in Germany is notoriously expensive. All costs included, it typically costs somewhere in the range of €3,400 to €4,000 or more.
“Mobility must not be a privilege,” said Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) when presenting key points for a driving licence application reform on Thursday afternoon.
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Proposed reforms include:
- cutting down the catalogue of theoretical questions on the knowledge test
- scrapping the obligation for students to receive face-to-face driver’s education lessons
- allowing more use of driving simulators in place of some in-car practice
- reducing the requirements for special in-car practice (such as hours at night or on motorways)
Schneider suggests that these changes, along with reductions to the requirements for driving schools will save both driving schools and students money and time.
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With reporting by AFP, DPA and Paul Krantz
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
